Process and apparatus for the separation of fibrous and nonfibrous materials



US AND,

May 6 1924;

GERSON B THE SEPARATION OF FIBRO PROCESS AND APPARATUS F0 NONFIBROUS MATERIALS Filed NOV. 1. 1922 Patented May 6, 1924.

UNITE- STAT-ES FATE tans. T oF ca.

KURT season," or BERLIN, GERMANY.

PnocEssANn APPARATUS FOR TnE'snPn A'rIon-oi" FIBROUS AND nonrrnnoos 1 MATERIALS.

Application filed November 1, 1922. 's riairro. 598,336.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KURT GERSON, a citizen of the German Republic, and resident of 107 Gitschiner Stiu, Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for the Separation of Fibrous and Nonfibrous Materials, of which the following is a specifioation.

This invention relates to the separation of confused materials, particularly garbage, into its fibrous and non-fibrous OOIiSlZ-ltLlBIltS;

Heretofore it has been the usual practice in connection with the separation of-garba'ge, and of confused material in general, to conduct the material between rollers with the object of crushing the hard constituents and simply compressing'the fibrous materials, which are then separated by sifting. As a single passage through such crushing mills has not proved sufiicient, it has become necessary to carry out the process of separation in stages by consecutively passing the material between coarse crushing and fine crushing rollers and subsequently sifting it. This way of separation, however, has great disadvantages in that the installations therefor are costly and cumbersome, and that considerable volumes of dust are set free which are very injurious to the. health of the workmen. In spite of all, the separation could never be completed properly-as the finest particles hadto beremovedqbycurrents'of air which were just sufficiently strong to remove any vegetable powder but not the fine mineral dust. I

The main object of the invention, therefore, is a new process by which the aforesaid disadvantagesv are entirely obviated and in which the separation into crusha'ble and compressible materials may becarried out in one-single stage. 7

A further ob 'ect of the invention is the provision of a device for carrying out the new. process, which shall be efiicient in use and entirely automatic in action, and of which the costsfof production and maintenance are exceedingly low.

With these and other objects in view the process forming part of the invention consists in the separation of the garbage into its fibrous and non-fibrous constituents within a dust-proof casing by continuously crushing and grinding the materials upon a crushing path in such a manner, that the fibrous materials do not become strained but simply compressed, whereas all hard con-- stituents are broken up and completely disintegrated; The said process may be carried out by simultaneously heating the materials thereby'aid' the process of crushing.

ACCOI'dlIlg to the invention the new process is carried out within adevice which operates substantially in the manner of a' pug mill or other known crushing mill,-by

removed from the device, whereby the finely crushed parts leave the device through: the preferably hopper-like bottom, whilst the fibrous parts are swept beyond thesieve into so as to extract all moisture therefrom and v runners being rotated upon a crushing path,

a, discharge opening provided in the casing,

The grinding path may be provided with heating means so that, if desired, the process of crushing and separating may be assisted by: the application of heat.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention by way of example.- '..Fig, 1 is a vertical section through the c'entrexof the device, parts being shown in elevation." Fig. 2 is aplan view ofthe crushing path and sieve partly broken away and showing also the scrapers which 1 are used formoving the materials.

Fig. 3 shows two'detail views 'ofithe.

scrapers. I V

Fig. 4 shows the means for shakin'gthe sieve. I if:.-.

Inthe example shown in the drawing a particular form of crushing mill is provided,

which ensures a slow, even and careful action on the fibrous materials without stretching or tearing the fibres. As will be seen,- conical runners Aare provided to circulate over a crushing path B, and owing to the fact that the apices of thecones A are positionedin the plane of the crushing path, the same velocity prevails at all point of contact between the runners and the crushing path, so that a grating or straining action on the material, such as would undoubtedly be the casein any ordinary crushing mill, is rendered impossible. The runners A are mounted for rotation on inclined shafts A,

which are pivoted at their inner ends, as at D to the upper end of a vertical shaft D on which is secured a beveled gear G. Ahorizontal shaft C is provided at the'outer end with fast and loose power pulleys, one of which is indicated at G, and at the inner end with a beveled gear C which engages the gear C. A charging tube E is provided through which the product is admitted into the device. If the product is sufliciently dry it may be treated directly, but if moist materials are to be treated it is advisable to construct the crushing path in the form of a heating plate by making it hollow, for example, and providing radiators or heating coils such as are indicated at B in the drawing. Scrapers F F and F are arranged to move the materials over the working surfaces; the scraper F which extends from the centre of the device to the edge of the crushing path, serves to move the material into the path of the runners as it is fed through the tube E. Scraper F circulates over the crushing path and the sieve, whereby it is in contact with the said path but moves over the sieve with a moderate amount of clearance as shown in the upper view of Fig. 3; it serves to conduct the material from the crushing path onto the sieve, thereby sweeping any fibrous materials over the outer edge of the sieve into the discharge tube G. All such parts of the garbage which have been completely desintegrated by the action of the runners fall directly through the meshes of the sieve S whilst the coarser parts are caught by the scraper F which may be integral with the scraper F but constructed to be in contact with the surface of the sieve, and are returned onto the crushing path in order to be again subjected to the action of the rollers.

For the purpose of facilitating the sifting of the materials the sieve S is provided with shaking means such as a lever S pivotally mounted at its centre as at S on supporting member S and the lower arm of which is acted upon by a cam S on the shaft C whilst its upper arm is slotted and in contact with a pin S held by brackets S on the' V The entire device is enclosed within a dust-proof casing I which is provided with one or more ventilation openings K. If deinto a suction conduit for the removal of the dust.

' \Vhat I claim is 1. Method of separating mixtures which contain fibrous compressible but not crackable ingredients as well as crackable ingredients, as for instance, refuse, waste, sweepings, consisting in first subjecting the material to a slowly acting comininuting operation, removing the uncomminuted fibrous material whilevthe crackable material is being connninuted, sifting the comminuted material remaining after the removal of the uncomminuted matter, and resubmitting to such comminuting action such crackable material as may have escaped comminution.

2. Method of separating mixed fibrous and comminutable material, such as garbage, consisting in subjecting the same to pressure-grinding action to grind the comminutable particles, removing the fibrous particles during such pressure, grinding action, and resubmitting such removed comminutable particles as may have escaped comminution to such pressure grinding action.

3. Device for separating ingredients of miXtures,-which mixtures consist of fibrous ingredients and comminutable ingredients, comprising a closed casing having a central feed pipe, a grindingplate and runners ar ranged to operate on the grinding plate and of conical form, the apices of the roller being arranged in the plane of the guiding plate, in combination with an annular sifting surface surrounding the grinding surface and with a plurality of rotatable scrapers which slide over the grinding surface and sifting surface. I

4:. Device as set forth in claim 3, characterized by a casing, a central feed pipe, a grinding plate and conical runners and also having an annular sifting surface, including a plurality of scrapers one of which ex-t tends from the feeding pipe to the inner edge of the grinding surface another being arranged to scrape over the grinding surface and sifting surface, and to touch with its lower edge the grinding surface only, and the third scraper being arranged to pass only over the sifting surface and to engage with its lower edge said sifting surface.

In witness whereof I afl'ix my signature.

KURT GERSON. 

